Year : 2021

Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia

and

Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University

Course : 05

EARLY CHILDHOOD

EDUCATION

CURRICULUM

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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

CURRICULUM

Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia

and

Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University

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Course Design & Subject Expert:

1. Dr. Manas Ranjan Panigrahi, Senior Programme Officer, CEMCA, New Delhi

2. Dr. Pranab Saikia, Associate Professor, Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University

Programme Director: Dr. Pranab Saikia, KKHSOU, Guwahati

Course Coordinator: Dr. Archana Adhikary, KKHSOU, Guwahati

Content Preparation Team:

Contents: Contributors

Module 1: Dr. Tarali Pathak, Cotton University

Module 2: Dr. Archana Adhikary, KKHSOU

Module 3: Dr. Utpal Kalita, R.G. B College

Module 4: Dr. Arunima Borah, KKHSOU

Editorial Team:

Content Editor : Dr. Maramee Goswami, Guwahati College

Dr. Pranab Saikia, KKHSOU

Language Editor : Dr. Pranab Saikia

Format Editor : Dr. Archana Adhikary

February 2021

Copyright © Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) and

Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University (KKHSOU), 2021. This material is made available under

Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) License:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode

Acknowledgements: This is to acknowledge that the programme has been design and developed

jointly by the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), New Delhi and Krishna

Kanta Handiqui State Open University, Guwahati, Assam.

Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University Headquarters : Patgaon, Rani Gate, Guwahati-781017

City Campus : Khanapara, ReshamNagar, Guwahati- 781022

Web: www.kkhsou.in

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Course Introduction

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the fifth course of Diploma in Early Childhood Education. There are four modules in

this Course. The first module gives a detail elaboration of curriculum of early childhood

education. The second module reflects on different contents of the ECE curriculum. The third

module deals with the management of ECE Curriculum. The fourth and last module of this

course highlights upon the other important aspects of child education i.e.-Play and different

forms of play.

While going through the modules you will find some Video links and QR Codes

given inside the boxes. This will help you to understand the content of the module. In some

of the modules there are some boxes which highlight the important points of the very module.

Introductory Video of the

DECE Programme

Video link :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1vucY_-GIo

Scan with QR Code

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CONTENTS

Module I : Early Childhood Education Curriculum 6

Module II : Contents of ECEC 21

Module III : Management of Curriculum 41

Module IV : Play 60

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Module I :

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION CURRICULUM

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Module Structure:

1.1: Learning Objectives

1.2: Introduction

1.3: Concept of Curriculum

1.4: Early Child Education Curriculum

1.5: Objectives of ECE curriculum

1.6: Balanced ECE curriculum

1.7: Principles of ECE Curriculum

1.8: Let us Sum Up

1.9 Further Reading

1.1: Learning Objectives:

After going through this module, the learners will be able to:

describe the concept of early childhood education curriculum

explain the objectives of ECE curriculum

analyse the basic components of balanced curriculum

enumerate the principles of ECE curriculum in curriculum construction and

method of teaching

1.2: Introduction

Learners, you have already come to know that early childhood education has been

defined in various ways and various terms have been used to denote the concept of early

childhood education. It includes a wide range of programmes all aimed at development of

physical, mental, emotional, social aspects before they start the formal schooling. During the

early childhood years a rich, experimental curriculum can enable young children to develop a

repertoire of encounters with and knowledge about their world that can help them in the

future. Young children should be provided with opportunities to practise and develop their

investigative skills using everyday materials and organisms. Young children must be

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encouraged to use all their senses to develop the skills of observing, labelling, describing and

sorting, to wonder about differences in their surroundings. And Curriculum is a means to

achieve theses aims. So an effort has been made to familiarise you with the modalities of

curriculum construction. In this module, we will discuss on the concept of curriculum,

concept of early childhood Curriculum and its objectives. Further we will also discuss on the

parameters of balanced curriculum and principles of curriculum construction.

1.3: Concept of Curriculum

The term curriculum has been derived from Latin word ‘Currere’ which means ‘to run a race

course’. It is a course which the learners have to go through for reaching certain goals or

destination. Traditionally, the term curriculum has been using to mean academic subjects

only. It insists on the acquisition of certain skills or knowledge. As the life was too simple at

that time so only few subjects in the curriculum were able to meet the needs of the people.

The fundamental principle which is behind the curriculum was the desire on the part of the

adults to equip the child with knowledge and skills which they thought to be helpful for the

child for the future endeavours. But the modern concept of Curriculum is totally different

from the traditional one. It includes the totality of experiences that pupil receives through

manifold activities that go on in school, classroom, playground and numerous informal

contacts which he encounter in his day to day life. This includes all the activities which a

school use to achieve the aims of education. It is not static now. As the needs and demands of

the society is changing, curriculum has also been changing according to the needs and ideals

of the society. Below some of the definitions of the curriculum has been cited-

According to Payne “Curriculum consists of all the situations that the school may

select and consciously organise for the purpose of developing the personality of its

pupils and for making behaviour changes in them.”

According to Munroe “Curriculum embodies all the experiences which are utilised by

the school to attain the aims of education.”

According to Crow and Crow, “ Curriculum includes all the learner’s experiences in

or outside school that are included in a programme which has been devised to help

develop mentally, physically, emotionally, socially , spiritually and morally.”

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So in a broad sense curriculum does not mean the academic subjects only, it is an

experience that is designed for the students to go through. It is a means through the wider

objectives of education are achieved. It covers all the wider areas of life and encompasses all

the meaningful, desirable activities which are provided to the children in a planned, organised

way. The main aim of curriculum is to arrange and provide those subjects which can develop

the physical, mental, emotional, social aspects of the learner.

1.4. Concept ECE curriculum

Curriculum is always constructed with the aim of teaching children the subjects,

knowledge and skills. The first eight years of a child’s life is a period of tremendous growth

and development. It is imperative to fully use and strengthen this opportunity to ensure long-

term benefits for each individual child’s development and for the community at large.

Children who have participated in high quality ECE demonstrate considerable gains in social,

educational, health and intellectual spheres in comparison to those who have not.ECE is a

programme which caters to the needs of the children between the age group of 0 to 6 years.

This period is very crucial in the human life. In this period child’s development influences the

whole personality of the child. It accords highest importance to have a holistic ECE

curriculum. ECE curriculum cannot be confined to the scholastic subjects only. The subjects

that should be included in the ECE curriculum ranges from the health issues and nutrition of

the child to the issues related to the mental, social, motor and physical development of the

child.

There are different views regarding what should be included in the curriculum the

National Association for the Education of Young Children USA (1987) believed that children

should be provided with such activities which facilitate their ability of exploration, develop

their physical, emotional, social and cognitive development. According to the high Scope

early childhood Education approach which was used in the preschool, kindergarten or

elementary school setting during 1970s in Michigan, active learning should be emphasised in

the curriculum of children. High Scope advocated the approach of “Plan, do, review’ to

implement curriculum. Students should be given direct, hands-on experiences with people,

objects, events and ideas. Curriculum should be organised into eight content areas, which are-

1. Approaches to learning

2. Language, literacy and communication

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3. Social and Emotional Development

4. Physical development and Health

5. Mathematics

6. Science and technology

7. Social studies

8. Creative art

In 1996 the Welsh Assembly set out Desirable Learning Outcomes for Children’s Education

before compulsory School age. This framework gave prime importance to play and argues

that children learn actively through the hands-on experiences. The areas advocated by them

for the curriculum are-

1. Personal, social development and cultural diversity

2. Language and Communication skill

3. Mathematical development

4. Knowledge and understanding of the world.

5. Physical and creative development.

National Early Childhood Care Curriculum framework (2014) gives importance to domains

of learning. Skills and concepts should be built on what the children already know. It also

suggested that individual variation in learning ad development should given importance. The

methods for curriculum implementation should be through activities and hands on

experiences. Here, care should be taken to develop the natural endowment of the child.

Children should be given a protective environment where he can feel secure and develop his

inner talents. Child has to be exposed in his natural environment, his culture and surrounding.

Play is the central thing in a child’s wellbeing. Children’s spontaneous play provides

opportunities for exploration, experimentation, manipulation and problem solving that are

essential for constructing knowledge. Adults must provide opportunities for children to

explore play and apply.

From the above discussion it can be said that all the curriculum frameworks of

different countries gives importance to the natural development of the child. Hence more or

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less content of the curriculum supported by different educationists are also similar. The early

childhood education curriculum should focus on Health, nutrition and early psycho-social

stimulation with the help of play and interaction. Various games, traditional songs,

syllables, stories, drawings should be included. Large group and small group activities should

be part of early childhood curriculum. For the development of creative imagination

imaginative play, simple question answer and problem solving abilities are important.

Reading readiness is also important skill for the child for the future. The knowledge of

shapes, phonetics should be an integral part of the curriculum. Along with these activities

basic mathematical skills, skills for motor development must be developed. For the motor

development activities like running, jumping, balancing activities can be given. Creative

drama, cultural activities are important for the development of creative and aesthetic aspects.

In the next subunit we will discuss on the objectives of Early Childhood Curriculum.

ECE Curriculum

Video link :

https://youtu.be/_ezn_ZurcKs

Scan with QR Code

1.5 Objectives of ECE curriculum:

The value of early childhood education lies in the acceptance of that early childhood.

Education is necessary for the wholesome development of the child. India has a history of

traditional practices on the early childhood care that date back almost 5000 years. Pre-

primary education in its broader sense may be divided into the following four parts- Pre-

primary education from conception to birth, Pre-primary education from birth to two and a

half year, from a two and half to four years, from four to five or six years.

The great philosopher and educationist Froebel also laid down some of the important aims of

pre-school education. He stressed that-

Proper environment should be made available for the physical development of

the child.

Provide a conducive learning environment which can satisfy the needs of the

child

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Importance on the development of creative and intellectual abilities of the

child.

Development and environment where the child can modify his behaviour.

Pre- school education should offer a common ground between home and

school and promote parent-teacher relationship.

To build up a warm, happy and wholesome climate for growing children.

The Secondary Education Commission (1952-53) recommended that the child should

be taught with joy, companionship and recreational activities. They should be helped

to develop the better and healthy habits of life and should be provided with the

opportunity to develop.

Child Care Committee (1963-64) under the chairperson of Smt. B. Tarabai, listed the

following objectives of Pre-school-

To take great care for the physical development of the child covering all the aspects

such as health, nutrition, posture, capacities and activities.

To develop habits of cleanliness both at the school and home and proper training and

facilities should be provided for the same.

To provide nourishment for the growth and development of physical, emotional,

social, moral aspects.

To provide for the development of skills to deal with the environment proper

playground activities and hand work activities and suitable environment for the

development of senses.

According to the Draft National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy

(2012) objective of education for all children below six years of age are to --

Ensure each child is valued, respected, feels safe and secure and develops a

positive self concept

Enable a sound foundation for physical and motor development of each child- as

per each child’s potential

Imbibe good nutrition routines, health habits, hygiene practices and self help

skills

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Enable children for effective communication and foster both receptive and

expressive language

Promote development and integration of the senses

Stimulate intellectual curiosity and develop conceptual understanding of the

world around by providing opportunities to explore, investigate and experiment

Enhance development of pro-social skills, social competence and emotional well

being

Develop sense of aesthetic appreciation and stimulate creative learning processes.

Imbibe culturally and developmentally appropriate behaviour and core human

values of respect and love for fellow human beings.

Enable a smooth transition from home to ECCE centre to formal schooling

Enhance scope for overall personality development

(Source: Draft National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy (2012)

by Ministry of Women and Child Development (GOI), New Delhi.)

From the above discussion on the objectives of education lay down by different Educationist

and Commissions it is clear that more or less all the objectives are similar. The objectives are

laid on the basis of the various social and psychological needs of the children. So we can

summarise the objectives of early childhood curriculum as follows-

1. The main objective of early childhood education curriculum is to provide stimulating

environment where the child can develop his innate potentialities, develop the instinct

of curiosity, develop intelligence, the power to control his emotions and acquire the

socially accepted behaviour.

2. Developing the proper skills for maintaining good health habits.

3. Poverty free society should be the aim of early childhood care and education. Pre-

school is desirable to all children but it is also necessary for disadvantaged children.

4. One of the main objectives of early childhood education curriculum is to make the

child ready for the school education through various games, traditional songs,

syllables, stories, drawings.

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5. Language development among preschool children should also be the aim of ece

curriculum.

6. To encourage aesthetic appreciation among preschool children should be the aim of

early childhood care and education. The children should be motivated to observe

natural phenomena such as beauty in the environment i.e. flowers, birds, butterflies,

pictures, music, dance and scenes etc.

7. Developing good social attitudes among children so that they can participate in games

and other activities and be sensitive to the rights and privileges of others.

These are some of the fundamental objectives of early childhood curriculum

which should be kept in mind while framing a balanced curriculum. In the next sub

module we will discuss on what balanced curriculum is and contents should be

included in the balanced curriculum.

Objectives of ECE Curriculum

Video link :

https://youtu.be/N1FBPfQzqg4

Scan with QR Code

1.6: Balanced Curriculum

A balanced curriculum provides not only information but also equips children with

skills, knowledge and understanding they need to develop into well-rounded, informed

individuals. The objectives of education should be reflected in the curriculum. First hand

experiences can provide good learning to the students. Scopes should be there in the

curriculum for hands on training. Balanced curriculum should be instilled as for the balanced

development of personality one should explore the capabilities and possibilities of the child.

There are various domains considering which a curriculum should be constructed for ECE.

To identify and understand the domains of activities for holistic development of children

during early years it is essential to look systematically at the domains of child development.

Domains of child development may be categorised as follows:

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The motor domain- It includes

Developing Coordination, control, strength of motor muscles

Integrating and developing a sense of balance in movement.

Adequate nutrition, personal hygiene skills

Ability to follow safety rules, make choices and avoid danger

The sensory domain: It includes

Development of the five senses through visual, auditory, olfactory and kinaesthetic

experiences

the use of different senses

Learning to control and coordinate their reflexes

Awareness of space and direction, distance, quantity etc.

The cognitive domain: It includes

Development of perceptual categorization, concepts of numbers and operations

Development of memory of objects, people, events

Develop the skills of observation, reasoning and problem solving, critical thinking

Ability to explore the physical, social and natural environment

Differentiate between events that happen in past, present and the future

Develop knowledge of relationship between people, places and regions

The language domain: It includes

Development of listening, comprehension skills

Development of communication, vocabulary and use of language

Developing literacy skills and love for reading

Identify and differentiate sounds, phonological awareness;

Develop competency in home language while acquiring beginning proficiency in

language of school transaction.

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Personal, Social and Emotional Development: It includes-

Development of awareness of their abilities, preferences, self concept; self control;

life skills

Develop curiosity, independence, awareness of behaviour and its effects

Develop interpersonal skills with respect to peers, family, teachers and community

Development of attachment, and emotional bonding with adults

Engagement and persistence in daily activities

Develop empathy, learn to control feelings and express emotions in relevant manner

Development of Creative and Aesthetic Appreciation: It includes

Begin to represent objects, events and ideas in the form of drawing, clay modelling

and other art forms

Develop expression, enjoyment and disposition for music and movement

Demonstrate creativity and inventiveness with materials

Apart from theses domains there are certain other aspects which should be taken care of

while framing a balanced curriculum for the pre-school child.

Inclusion: Individual differences are always there. A balanced curriculum should be able to

meet the needs of each child. Along with it children with disabilities should have access to

mainstream early learning environments. children be treated equally rather than be segregated

based on their individual, educational, social, emotional or physical impairments While a

learner may have special education need and may need differentiated inputs to be able to

learn concepts in a given area, it is critical to identify areas of strength of the child that can be

built upon.

In the light of emerging needs and new developments in preschool education, an

attempt is being made to ensure that the present curriculum is holistic, developmentally

appropriate, indigenous, and most importantly play and activity based.

1.7 Principles of Pre- school Curriculum Construction

At the preschool stage, children are curious and excited about the colours, shapes, sounds,

sizes and forms around them. During this period learning takes place as a part of

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communication with adults and peers in which language also plays a very important role.

Children need to be given opportunities to investigate, explore, and develop an understanding

of their immediate and wider environment – human, social and cultural. The curriculum for

preschool education, therefore, includes the specific content and pedagogy to suit the age and

developmental requirements of this stage and finds its base from the theoretical and

conceptual frameworks in the form of the guiding principles. For construction of curriculum

for pre primary stage we are required to follow some particular principles .Let us discuss

some important the principles of curriculum construction-

1) Principle of Child centeredness: Modern approach to curriculum construction

should be paedocentricc in the sense that the child should occupy a central position in

the entire teaching learning process. The curriculum should be farmed on the present

needs, requirements and circumstances of the child. The child should be the key to all

kinds of curricular programmes. His ability, interest, attitudes and needs should be

considered at the time of curriculum construction.

2) Principle of experience based: Children learn by being provided the environment for

experiential learning. The child can learn more from the experiences than the

instruction. Children learn through active and direct experiences with their

environment, which helps them to construct their knowledge with interaction and

guidance from teachers and peers.

3) Principle of individual difference: Each child is different and grows, learns and

develops at her/his own pace. No child is alike that is why curriculum should also

cater the individual differences of the children. Although all children largely follow

the same sequence of development, each child is unique and acquires abilities and

skills at his/her own pace. Therefore, individual differences should be taken care of

while framing the curriculum.

4) Principle of developmentally appropriate practices: The curriculum follows

developmentally appropriate practices that are appropriate to their age, stage and

context to promote children’s optimal learning and development. It suggests the use

of multiple teaching strategies to address the needs of children at the different

developmental stages.

5) Principle of Play and activity: Play and activity are the primary context of learning

and development child. Play and activity are the best medium for preschool

education. They offer opportunities to explore experiment, manipulate and experience

the environment thus, children construct their knowledge. The curriculum suggests

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play activities, having a balance between different kinds of play like free and guided,

active and passive, indoor and outdoor, individual and group and structured and

unstructured.

6) Principle of Interaction: Interactive teaching enhances learning experiences.

Interaction (child-child, child-teacher, and child-material) is the most significant

aspect of quality preschool education. The interaction between children, the range of

environmental and cultural experiences along with meaningful dialogues helps

children build a solid knowledge foundation and prepares them for formal schooling.

Therefore curriculum should provide opportunity for interactive experiences.

7) Principle of Mother tongue/Home language: Mother tongue/Home language should

be the medium of instruction. Language is closely linked to children’s identity and

emotional security that helps them freely express their thoughts and feelings.

Teaching through children’s mother tongue/home language, is also internationally

recognized as the most appropriate way of working with children in the early years of

concept formation.

8) Principle of Family involvement: Family involvement contributes to learning.

Involvement of parents and family contributes to the learning and development of the

children. The preschool curriculum recommends participation and involvement of

families in preschools as well as at home.

9) Principle of Values: The curriculum should be designed in such a way that it

develops positive feeling and values. The programme devised for the various levels

especially at the pre-school level should be able to inculcate social, moral, spiritual,

democratic and aesthetic values among the children.

10) Principle of Comprehensiveness: The curriculum must be able to provide totality of

learning experiences. Activities fostering all domains of development should be

appropriately planned. Children should be given opportunities to manifold activities

inside and outside the classroom.

11) Principle of Integration: The principle of integration is important for the

development of all-round personality of the child. Learning opportunities should be

interconnected, linking learning experiences across developmental domains in a

meaningful context, reflecting the real life context of the children.

12) Principle of dynamism: The curriculum of preschool programme should never be

rigid. It must be dynamic to fit in the changing situation. And the learners should also

be given the opportunity to choose learning activities according to his choice.

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13) Principle of Community life: Curriculum can also be based on the principle that

school and community life must be intimately related to each other. Though the

child's development and growth is the main consideration of curriculum construction,

yet his social behaviour is also to be suitably developed. . Both the individual

development and the social development of the child deserve equal attention.

14) Principles of creativeness and enjoyment: Preschool education curriculum should

help the students to develop their inner potentialities and creativity. A wide range of

individual and group experiences should be planned which are related to the child’s

environment, are enjoyable and challenging for children.

Principles of ECE Curriculum

Construction

Video link :

https://youtu.be/VygP_LD2sz8

Scan with QR Code

1.8: Let us Sum Up

In this module we have discussed on the concept of curriculum. Curriculum does not

mean the academic subjects only, it is an experience that is designed for the students

to go through. It is a means through the wider objectives of education are achieved.

The early childhood education curriculum should focus on Health, nutrition and early

psycho-social stimulation with the help of play and interaction. Various games,

traditional songs, syllables, stories, drawings should be included. Large group and

small group activities should be part of early childhood curriculum. Various kinds of

activities should be included for the all-round development of the child.

The main objective of early childhood education is to provide stimulating

environment where the child can develop his innate potentialities, develop the instinct

of curiosity, develop intelligence, the power to control his emotions and acquire the

socially accepted behaviour.

Every child is a unique individual and has skills and abilities that can be further

enhanced and developed. A good early childhood care and education programme

respects the different pace of development of all children and ensures that the child

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develops physically, socially, emotionally, morally and intellectually to their full

potential.

In the last sub-point we discussed the principles of ECE curriculum construction

1.9 Further Reading

1. Draft National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy (2012) by

Ministry of Women and Child Development (GOI), New Delhi.

2. Draft Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework (2012) by Ministry of

Women and Child Development (GOI), New Delhi.

3. Kaul, V. (2010): Early Childhood Education Programme. National Council for

Educational Research and Training.

4. Kevin Crowley (2014).Child Development: A practical Introduction, London: Sage

Publication.

5. Mishra, R.C. (2016). Early Childhood Care and Education. New Delhi: APH.

Publishing Corporation.

6. Mukherrji P& Dryden L (2014). Foundations of Early Childhood: Principles and

Practice,New Delhi: SAGE

7. N.R. Swaroop Saxena (2012) Philosophical and Sociological Foundation of

Education. Meerut: R. Lall Book Depot.

8. Roopnarine, L. Jaipaul & Johnson. James. E (2015). Approaches to Early Childhood

Education, Noida: Pearson India

9. Safaya,R. And Shaida. B.D. (2004). Modern Theory and Principles of Education,

New Delhi: Dhanpat Rai Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd.

10. Sharma, R.N. (2007). Philosophy and Sociology of Education, Delhi: Surjeet

Publications

OER Reading Links

https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/cnm/cresource/q1/p03/ (Curriculum)

https://worldforumfoundation.org/workinggroups/curriculum/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImNuGz62p6wI

VU6WWCh2NMw7KEAMYAyAAEgI5MfD_Bw (Early childhood curriculum)

http://www.csplib.org/Problems/prob030/ (Balanced Curriculum)

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Module II :

CONTENTS OF ECEC

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MODULE STRUCTURE:

2.1 Learning Objectives

2.2 Introduction

2.3 Contents for physical and motor development

2.4 Contents for sensory development

2.5 Contents for cognitive and language development

2.6 Contents for social-emotional development

2.7 Activities for implementation of content of curriculum for holistic development

2.8 Integration of play in the Curriculum

2.8.1 Different type’s of play to integrate in Curriculum of ECE

2.8.2: Some of the play material for holistic development

2.9 Let us sum up

2.10 Further Reading

2.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this module, you will be able to-

describe the content for child’s physical and motor development

explain the content for sensory development

identify the Contents for cognitive and language development

elaborate the Contents for social-emotional development

discuss the importance of integration of play in the curriculum

2.2 INTRODUCTION

From the discussion of the previous modules, you must have idea about the concept of early

childhood education and its importance. In the 1st module of this course, we have discussed

about the curriculum of early childhood education, its various principles. Curriculum are

always constructed with the aim of teaching children the subjects, knowledge and skills.

According to the Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework (Draft) 2012 published

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by MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA,

the ECCE programme should ensure ‘holistic development’ of the child and reflect the

inseparable nature of care and education by comprehensively addressing the need for care,

nutrition, health and well-being of young children and parent counselling along with

supporting the development of all domains. The holistic development approach is vital for

provision of interconnected and interrelated activities covering all domains of development.

Here in this module, we will focus on the content necessary for the overall development of

the children. We will discuss separately about the content necessary for different aspects of

personality. Lets’ discuss-

2.3 CONTENTS FOR PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

Early childhood is a time of tremendous growth across all areas of development. The

dependent newborn grows into a young person who can take care of his or her own body and

interact effectively with others. For these reasons, the primary developmental task of this

stage is skill development. It should be mentioned here that ECE is not a syllabus bound

programme for teaching 3R’s nor ‘a song and a rhyme and go home’ approach. It is also not a

teacher centered programme that follows formal classroom approach as in school. National

Early Childhood Care Curriculum framework (2014) gives importance to domains of

learning. Skills and concepts should be built on what the children already know. It also

suggested that individual variation in learning and development should give importance. The

methods for curriculum implementation should be through activities and hands on

experiences. Before going to discuss about the content for physical and motor development,

let’s review how a child develop physically-

Physically, between birth and age three a child typically doubles in height and

quadruples in weight. Bodily proportions also shift, so that the infant, whose head

accounts for almost one-fourth of total body length, becomes a toddler with a more

balanced, adult-like appearance.

Despite the rapid physical changes, the typical three-year-old has mastered many

skills, including sitting, walking, toilet training, using a spoon, scribbling, and

sufficient hand-eye coordination to catch and throw a ball.

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Between three and five years of age, children continue to grow rapidly and begin to

develop fine-motor skills.

By age five most children demonstrate fairly good control of pencils, crayons, and

scissors Gross motor accomplishments during these periods may include the ability to

skip and balance on one foot. Physical growth slows down between five and eight

years of age, while body proportions and motor skills become more refined.

Physical changes in early childhood are accompanied by rapid changes in the child's

cognitive and language development. From the moment they are born, children use all

their senses to attend to their environment, and they begin to develop a sense of cause

and effect from their actions and the responses of caregivers.

National Early Childhood Care Curriculum framework (2014) always emphasised on that

care should be taken to develop the natural endowment of the child. Therefore the

curriculum must address interrelated domains of holistic development through an

integrated and play based approach which focuses on development of life skills.

According to Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework (Draft) 2012 the

contents for physical and motor development should be-

A. Gross motor skills

B. Coordination of fine muscles with dexterity

C. Eye hand coordination

D. Sense of balance

E. Physical co-ordination

F. Awareness of space and direction

G. Nutrition

H. Health status and practices.

25 | P a g e

2.4 CONTENTS FOR SENSORY DEVELOPMENT

Gradual development of the perception of size, shape, colour and time etc.is one of the

significant features of sensory development among young children. According to Early

Childhood Education Curriculum Framework (Draft) 2012 the contents for sensory

development should be-

Experiences of the five senses through

visual,

auditory and

Kinesthetic experiences.

2.5 CONTENTS FOR COGNITIVE AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Following are some of the characteristics of cognitive development in the young

children:-

The child has got varied experiences connected with his immediate environment

The child accumulate a heap of knowledge

Understand the basic functional relationship between things and events

Egocentrism and fantasy are in high degree

Gradual development of the perception of size, shape, colour and time etc.

Interest in adventurous activities increases

Rapid increase in memory, thinking and reasoning

Creativity and imagination etc. are also developed

By age eight, children are able to demonstrate some basic understanding of less

concrete concepts, including time and money. However, the eight-year old still

reasons in concrete ways and has difficulty understanding abstract ideas.

According to Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework (Draft) 2012 the contents

for cognitive development should be-

A. Development of various concepts including pre number and number concepts and

operations (knowledge and skills related to comparing, classification, seriation,

conservation of space and quantity, one to one correspondence; counting)

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B. Spatial sense

C. Patterns and estimations in measurement

D. Data handling

E. Skills related to sequential thinking,

F. Critical thinking

G. Observation

H. Reasoning and problem solving

I. Knowledge about concepts and physical, social and biological environment

Following are some of the characteristics of language development in the young children:-

At the age of 4, most children have acquired the basic structures of the language.

(ask questions, give commands, give reports)

Children (3-4 year olds) begin to learn vocabulary at the rate of several words a

day.

They develop their ability in using the language in a widening social environment

and variety of situations.

Children also begin to develop metalinguistic awareness. For example, the ability

to treat language as an object separate from the meaning it conveys.

Over the first three years of life, children develop a spoken vocabulary of between

300 and 1,000 words, and they are able to use language to learn about and

describe the world around them.

By age five, a child's vocabulary will grow to approximately 1,500 words. Five-

year-olds are also able to produce five-to seven-word sentences, learn to use the

past tense, and tell familiar stories using pictures as cues.

Content for Language Development:

According to Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework (Draft) 2012 the contents

for language development should be-

A. Listening and comprehension

B. Oral skills/speaking and communicating

C. Vocabulary development

D. Pre- literacy/emergent literacy skills like phonological awareness

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E. Print awareness and concepts

F. Letter- sound

G. Correspondence

H. Recognition of letters

I. Building words and sentences

J. Early writing.

k. Introduction to language of school transaction.

2.6 CONTENTS FOR SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Following are some of the characteristics of socio-emotional development in the young

children:-

A key moment in early childhood socio-emotional development occurs around

one year of age.

This is the time when attachment formation becomes critical. Attachment theory

suggests that individual differences in later life functioning and personality are

shaped by a child's early experiences with their caregivers.

The quality of emotional attachment, or lack of attachment, formed early in life

may serve as a model for later relationships.

From age three to five, growth in socio-emotional skills includes the formation of

peer relationships, gender identification, and the development of a sense of right

and wrong.

Between ages five and eight, children enter into a broader peer context and

develop enduring friendships. Social comparison is heightened at this time, and

taking other people's perspective begins

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Content for Language Development:

According to Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework (Draft) 2012 the contents

for socio-emotional development should be-

A. Socio-Personal and Emotional Development

B. Development of self-concept

C. self-control

D. life skills/ self-help skills

E. Habit formation

F. Initiative and curiosity

G. Engagement and persistence

H. Cooperation

I. Compassion

J. Social relationships

K. Group interaction

L. pro- social behaviour

M. Expressing feeling

N. Accepting others feelings.

Contents in curriculum for all-round Development

Video link :

https://youtu.be/o2kVwqp-mi8

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2.7 Activities for implementation of content of curriculum for holistic development:

As the framework suggested for implementation of ECE curriculum through play based

approach which focuses on development of life skills, it suggested developmentally

appropriate activities for ECCE:-

A. For Children under 3 years

Focusing on health, nutrition and early psycho social stimulation through free play

and a lot of adult child interaction. E.g., (infant games, traditional songs &

syllables, access to variety of play materials, individualized adult attention and

29 | P a g e

interaction, opportunities to explore, early introduction to stories, infant books,

drawings etc.) in safe, spacious and clean environment.

B. For Children between 3 to 4 years

Planned play based programme for all round development with more of free play.

Continuous opportunities, more free but some guided, for adult –child, chi

interaction and interaction with play materials and environment through a variety

of individual, small group and large group activities.

Opportunities to listen to stories, learn rhymes, create, indulge in imaginative

play, ask questions, do simple problem solving, experiment to promote active and

interactive learning and generally have a ‘feel good’ experience for a positive self-

image.

C. For Children between 4 to 6 years

Moving towards an increasing ratio of adult guided vs. free play activities, and

more of large group activities for 4-5 year old

Focusing more on specific school readiness for 5-6 year old, with increasing

complexity in all of above.

Reading Readiness: e.g. picture –sound matching, shapes, phonetics; increasing

vocabulary; verbal expression, developing bond with and interest in re Writing

Readiness: e.g. eye hand coordination, interest in writing, left to right

directionality.

Math: developing skills in classification, seriation, pattern making, reasoning,

problem solving, forming concepts: pre number and number concepts and space

concepts and vocabulary, environment concepts.

Motor development: fine motor development through activities such as beading,

pegboards and puzzles and large muscle development through running, jumping,

balancing activities etc.

30 | P a g e

Creativity and aesthetic appreciation: Creative drama, cultural activities, field trips

etc. The programme should be relevant to individual and societal needs. The age

demarcations are indicative and the activities have to be planned according to the

developmental level of the children. adding through picture books, storytelling,

charts etc. to child

Activities for holistic development

Video link :

https://youtu.be/PjtCXnJsIvI

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2.8 INTEGRATION OF PLAY IN THE CURRICULUM

Learning through play is one of the significant pedagogical approach of early

childhood education. Children should engage in play activities which are neither too

challenging nor too easy for their developmental level. In a play based approach stimulating

materials and activities are made available by the teacher and children self-select activities

according to their interest at each point of time and learn at their own pace. The teacher’s role

is that of a facilitator and she does not carry out any specific structured activities. In order to

enable children to benefit from this approach teachers need to observe and identify learning

opportunities and make play materials available accordingly. If a teacher is unskilled and

ineffective, it may lead to loss of learning opportunities and learning by doing. The need to

integrate play into early childhood curriculum has been supported by decades of child

development research. However, the specific aspects of the relationship between play and

curriculum remain open to interpretation which affects the beliefs of Early Childhood

practitioners as well as their classroom practices.

Research on play in the context of Early Childhood Education has addressed the

aspects of the play-curriculum relationship. One set of researchers look into the use of play

elements, play environments, or play motivation as a way to enhance instruction in core

subjects such as literacy in mathematics

or science, or as a way to promote specific areas of

development such as the development of children’s social-emotional competencies, oral

language or gross and fine motor skills in the ECE curriculum These studies are primarily

focused on the respective academic domain or area of development with play. They viewed

31 | P a g e

play as a means to foster child development in these domains. Researchers focuses on play in

its multiple forms (e.g., social, pretend or object) and recognized it as a distinct child-initiated

activity with its own unique contributions to child development.

The importance of Integration of play in the Curriculum:

Children learn best through play. They are playful in nature

Play stimulates curiosity and exploration and leads to mastery of body controls,

encourages creativity and social skills, and develops emotional balance and

language skills.

Any pleasure- giving activity is play for them and is central to child’s well-being

It stimulates easy learning

It helps the teacher to transact the curriculum in easy way

It induced child imitated activities.

2.8.1 Different types of play to integrate in Curriculum of ECE

Different types of play are prevalent at different ages although all forms continue throughout

the early childhood periods. Infant and young children do engage in functional play which

involves performing physical activities. At the age of 4 they engage in constructive play by

manipulating objects to build things. Pretended play, dramatic play language play are some of

the common play by the young children. Great psychologist like Pestalozzi, Dewey and

White also recommended to use playful activities as a method to stimulate learning in the

preschool as pre play activities. Some of such plays are mentioned below that can be

integrated in the curriculum. This will not only help to practice the content but also to achieve

the goal of holistic development--

A. Water Play

Water play enables children to experiment in a safe environment with basic

concepts such as volume. Additionally, water play is great for learning

consequences of actions. Add in some hand-eye coordination and physical

strength, and water play is a firm favourite.

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B. Play Dough

Play dough has immense potential for learning. Not only does it strengthen fingers

in preparation for a lifetime of writing, it teaches fine motor skills, creativity, and

hand-eye coordination.

C. Dress-Up and Role Play

The children should be left to loose with a bunch of dressing-up clothes and props

such as toy doctor’s kits, and let their imaginations run wild. Dressing-up helps

children to begin to make sense of the adult world, roles, and interests, as well as

boosting social interaction. Not least, dressing-up helps to reinforce the self-care

aspects of self-dressing which is essential for primary school life.

D. Doll and Character Play

Providing characters in the form of mini-figures and dolls allows children to

develop their social play. It encourages imagination and the expression (and

labeling) of feelings.

E. Drawing Play

Letting children run wild with paints and drawing tools allows them to experience

their world in a sensory way and develop self-expression, whilst also developing pre-

writing skills. Furthermore, it is an invitation to learn about colours, mixing, and

good-old tidying up.

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F. Blocks, Jigsaws, and Shape Sorters

Playing with blocks, jigsaws, and shape sorters all lay the foundations of spatial

thinking, logical reasoning, ordering, and recognizing various shapes, sizes, and

colours.

G. Music, Dancing, and Singing

Singing and music hugely help to develop language and form the basis of literacy

skills, as well as basic mathematical concepts such as counting. Furthermore, they

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begin to develop rhythm, whilst also refining their listening skills. Dancing helps

the child develop strength and coordination, and flexibility.

H. Imaginative Play

All play should be imaginative. All children should be left with nothing but a

random selection of objects. Giving a child time and space for imaginative play is

essential. It develops their imagination, which is important for literacy skills and

intellectual reasoning. Additionally, it increases their sense of self, and self-

esteem, as well as making sense of the world around them, as well as ability to

handle boredom.

I. Running, Jumping, Climbing, Swinging

Young children have a compulsion to move. Allowing them to do so, and

providing safe and age-appropriate challenges, allows them to increase their

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confidence as well as develop their resilience through risk-taking. Of course,

through this play gross motor skills also receive a mighty boost.

J. Nature Play

Children’s learning is fueled with rocket-fuel when they are given the play space

out in to the great outdoors. It is not only healthy but also teaches them a respect

for the environment, and the beginnings of biology. It also helps children to

become more independent and inquisitive.

K. Sensory Play

In a nutshell, sensory play is any play activity which involves touch, smell, taste,

sight and hearing. This can be provided with a plate of jelly, aqua beads, ice,

rainbow rice, or even small world tubs. Sensory play stimulates exploration and

the building blocks of science and investigation.

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L. Basic Board Games

There are so many board games available for even the youngest players, and these

should be embraced – not only for their fun factor, but for their learning potential.

In addition to the themes of numbers, colours, shapes, and early phonics, these

games are vital for teaching children turn-taking and sharing.

M. Cooking and Pretend-Cooking

Cooking, and pretend cooking, serving, and shops, are great play scenarios for

kids. Cooking itself combines elements of sensory play, mathematical concepts,

home safety, and following processes. Pretend cooking, serving, and toy shops

also teach basic mathematical ideas as well as social interaction, and how to be

thoughtful to others.

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N. The Cardboard Box

The humble cardboard box is one of the most incredible invitations to play. The child

should be provided with scraps of fabric, cushions, pencils and paper plates. It will

help them to explore their world, enter their imagination, and begin thinking like an

engineer.

2.8.2: SOME OF THE PLAY MATERIAL FOR HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT

Some essential play materials are

A. Indoor Material

Blocks for constructive play

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Manipulative Material for imaginative play /Dramatic play – dolls, puppets,

masks, kitchen sets, mirrors, old spectacle frames, purses, old shoes, weighting

scales, clock etc.

Material to develop Language skills – books and picture books, storytelling aid,

puppets, story cards, sound board, conversation cards, flash cards, picture

dominoes, collection of rhymes and stories, visual discrimination and auditory and

visual association materials, slates, chalks, crayons, blackboard, drawing paper,

etc.

Material to develop cognitive skills – sound boxes, visual discrimination cards,

touch cards, feel bag, food items of varying kind to develop sensory skills, number

domino cards, picture jigsaw and self-correcting puzzles for matching, sorting,

arranging, classifying, problem solving, memory and sequential thinking to

develop cognitive skills and materials in the environment

Musical instruments o Art material for creative expression such as paints,

crayons, pencil, paint brushes, cotton, threads, clay, knife, papers, scissors, cloth,

gum and fevicol, bead, etc. In addition to locally available material,

teachers/caregivers can develop play and learning material for specific activities

planned in the programme.

B. Outdoor Materials

Play equipment to build balancing, jumping, climbing, swinging, swaying,

cycling, etc.

Materials like large or small balls, old tires, rings, etc. for throwing, catching,

kicking, rolling, etc.

Sand and water play arrangement with sand pit, mugs, spoons, cups, bucket,

sieves, strainer, etc.

Play in Curriculum

Video link :

https://youtu.be/br-52On7Qmo

Scan with QR Code

39 | P a g e

2.9 LET US SUM UP

In this module, we have discussed in detailed about content for the curriculum for ECE. Let’s

summarize it-

According to the Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework (Draft) 2012

published by MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT,

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, the ECCE programme should ensure ‘holistic

development’ of the child and reflect the inseparable nature of care and education by

comprehensively addressing the need for care, nutrition, health and well-being of

young children and parent counselling along with supporting the development of all

domains.

National Early Childhood Care Curriculum framework (2014) always emphasised on

that care should be taken to develop the natural endowment of the child. Therefore the

curriculum must address interrelated domains of holistic development through an

integrated and play based approach which focuses on development of life skills.

According to Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework (Draft) 2012 the

contents for physical and motor development should be-Gross motor skills,

Coordination of fine muscles with dexterity, Eye hand coordination, Sense of balance,

Physical co-ordination, Awareness of space and direction etc.

The contents for cognitive development are Development of various concepts

including pre number and number concepts and operations (knowledge and skills

related to comparing, classification, seriation, conservation of space and quantity, one

to one correspondence; counting), Spatial sense, Patterns and estimations in

measurement, Data handling etc.

The contents for language development are - Listening and comprehension, Oral

skills/speaking and communicating, Vocabulary development, Pre- literacy/emergent

literacy skills like phonological awareness, Print awareness and concepts, Letter-

sound etc.

The contents for socio-emotional development are Socio-Personal and Emotional

Development, development of self-concept, self-control, life skills/ self-help skills,

Habit formation, Initiative and curiosity, Engagement and persistence etc.

40 | P a g e

Learning through play is one of the significant pedagogical approach of early

childhood education. Children should engage in play activities which are neither too

challenging nor too easy for their developmental level.

Research on play in the context of Early Childhood Education has addressed the

aspects of the play-curriculum relationship

Infant and young children do engage in functional play which involves performing

physical activities.

Some of the play that can be integrated in ECE curriculum are-Play Dough, Dress-Up

and Role Play, Doll and Character Play

Material to develop Language skills are books and picture books, storytelling aid,

puppets, story cards, sound board, conversation cards, flash cards, picture dominoes,

collection of rhymes and stories, visual discrimination and auditory and visual

association materials, slates, chalks, crayons, blackboard, drawing paper, etc.

Material to develop cognitive skills are sound boxes, visual discrimination cards,

touch cards, feel bag, food items of varying kind to develop sensory skills, number

domino cards, picture jigsaw and self-correcting puzzles for matching, sorting,

arranging, classifying, problem solving, memory and sequential thinking to develop

cognitive skills and materials in the environment

2.10 Further Reading

1. Aggarwal, J.C. (1996). Theory and Principles of Education, Vikash Publishing

House, New Delhi.

2. Aggarwal, J.C. and Gupta Suman (2009). Early Childhood Care and

Education, Shipra Publications.

3. Kochar, S.K. (1995). Methods and Techniques of Teaching, Starling

Publications Pvt. Ltd.

4. NCERT, 2006, Early Childhood Education (Position Paper, National Focus

Group), New Delhi.

5. UNESCO, Paris. 2003. Early Childhood Care and Education in E-9 Countries:

Status and Outlook. Prepared for the Fifth E-9 Ministerial Meeting.

OER Reading Links:-

1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40723-016-0024-4 (Content for ECE Curriculum)

2. https://www.gavinpublishers.com/articles/review-article/Educational-Research-

Applications/the-importance-of-free-play-in-early-childhood-and-primary-school-education-

critical-analysis-for-romania (Integration of Play in Curriculum of ECE)

41 | P a g e

Module III :

MANAGEMENT OF CURRICULUM

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Module Structure:

3.1 Learning Objectives

3.2 Introduction

3.3 Planning of Curriculum

3.3.1 Yearly, Monthly, Weekly and Daily Plans (Preparation of Routine)

3.4 Transaction of ECCE Curriculum of Assam

3.4.1 Details of the themes- Broad theme & Sub themes

3.4.2 Management of Time and Activities in the Curriculum

3.4.3 Method of transacting one day activities taking one particular theme

3.5 Preparation of Activity Book

3.5.1 Overview of Activities linkage with the Themes of ECCE Curriculum

3.5.2 Use of Activity Book

3.6 Let Us Sum Up

3.7 Further Reading

3.1 Learning Objectives

After going through this module, you will be able to-

Acquire the skill to plan a curriculum yearly, monthly, weekly and daily.

Develop insight about transaction of curriculum of early childhood care and

education.

Explain the techniques to manage the time and activities of curriculum.

Develop idea about the methods of transaction of one day activities taking one

particular theme.

Prepare activity book of ECCE curriculum.

Explain different uses of activity book.

3.2 Introduction

India has a wealth of traditional practices in Early Childhood Care and Education

(ECCE) that date back almost 5000 years. The value of ECCE lies in the recognition and

acceptance that ECCE is a vital development need of all children ECCE must be the first step

in the educational ladder and should be part of Education for All. Early childhood care and

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education is necessary as readiness for formal education. Today there is universal demand for

early childhood education in the whole world. Curriculum is an important aspect of ECCE

and it is very essential for the teachers to know that how to manage the curriculum of ECCE.

In this unit, we shall discuss about how to plan a curriculum yearly, monthly, weekly and

daily; develop insight about transaction of curriculum of ECCE; manage the time and

activities of curriculum; develop idea about the methods of transaction of ECCE and

understand the activity book of ECCE curriculum.

3.3 Planning of Curriculum of ECCE

In simple words, curriculum includes all the programmes and activities which the

school undertakes for the all-round development of the learners. As observed by the

Secondary Education Commission (1952-53), it includes the totality of experience that a

pupil receives through the manifold activities that go on in the school-in the classroom,

library, laboratory, workshop, and playground and in the numerous informal contacts

between teachers and pupils. In this case the whole life of the school becomes the curriculum

which can touch the life of the students at all points and help in the development of balanced

personality.

Effectiveness of curriculum of any stage of education is always based on proper

planning. Good planning is the key to making children’s learning effective, exciting, varied

and progressive. Hence it is necessary to plan the curriculum of ECCE effectively. All that

matters to children is play, play and play. Thus the ECCE curriculum adopts a play and

activity based approach in which the learning processes are based on the needs, interests,

abilities and social context of the children for whom it is planned. While planning

curriculum, following points should be kept in mind:

Curriculum should be based on needs and capacities of young children.

Curriculum should recognise the special features of children’s thinking.

Formal and informal interaction should be mixed in the curriculum.

Familiarity and challenge in everyday rhythm.

Importance should be given on primacy of experience rather than expertise in the

curriculum.

Developmentally appropriate practice and flexibility.

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Use of local material, arts and knowledge which reflect the diversity and culture of

the children.

3.3.1 Yearly, Monthly, Weekly and Daily Plans (Preparation of Routine) of

ECCE

Planning of ECCE curriculum is divided into four heads. Such as: yearly plan,

monthly plan, weekly plan and daily plan. These plans are mentioned below:

a) Yearly Plan:

Yearly plan typically includes setting up the learning environment indoor and

outdoor, organising areas of provision, deciding on core equipment, decision about regular

routines and devising a strategy to ensure coverage of the six areas of learning and

development (Personal, Social, Emotional, Communication, Language Problem & Reasoning

Skills, Cognitive Development, Development of Aesthetic and Creative Expression) will be

activities in terms of projects and activities on a long term.. Yearly planning of curriculum is

termed as long term plan. Yearly planning should be done in terms of:

The specific developmental objective to be promoted.

Identification of themes for the year which would form the content of the curriculum.

Activities based on the themes that would help in promoting development in children

in line with the objectives.

Material required for conducting different activities of the curriculum for the whole

year.

The budget required to implement the planning of curriculum of ECCE.

The full years plan should be split into term/quarterly and then monthly plans,

monthly plan is then required into reduced into weekly and then into daily plans.

b) Monthly Plan:

Monthly plan is also known as medium term planning. The medium term planning

links the long term opportunities for learning to a focus or relevant theme, based on

children’s needs, interests or the time of year. The areas of provision and learning

45 | P a g e

environment will be equipped with additional resources to reflect these themes and areas of

interest.

c) Weekly Plan:

Different institutions of early childhood education are open for five days in a week for

four hours daily. Sample weekly plan on a theme of Animals is mentioned below:

Sample Weekly Plan

Theme: Animals

Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

9.00-9.30 Circle Time Assembly Circle Time Assembly Circle Time

9.30-10.00 Free

Conversation

(Animal

Names)

Guided

Conversation

(Homes of

Animals)

Free

Conversation

(Food of

Animals)

Guided

Conversation

(Animals and

their young

ones)

Guided

Conversation

(Uses of

Animals)

10.00-10.30 Seriation

Activity

(Small to

large

animal)

Sorting

Cards

(Animals and

their young

ones)

Soft and Hard

Surface

Shape: Circle Pattern

Writing

10.30-11.00 Animal Race Block Play Swings and

slides

Walking on

Zigzag line

Sand Pit

11.00-11.30 Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch

11.30-12.00 Free hand

drawing of

pet animals

Tearing and

pasting on

animal

drawings

Models of

animal homes

Making Clay

Animals

Mask

Making

12.00-12.30 Animal

Rhyme (Pet

Animals)

Music and

Movement

Activity

(How

animals

move)

Rhyme

Dramatization

(Farm

Animals)

Animal Story

(Wild

Animals)

Song and

Dance

(Birds)

12.30-1.00 Winding up

&

Departure

Winding up

&

Departure

Winding up

&

Departure

Winding up

&

Departure

Winding up

&

Departure

d) Daily Plan:

Each day’s planning should be detail. L. N. Bossing said daily or lesson plan is a

statement of the achievements to be realized and the specific meaning by which these are to

46 | P a g e

be attained as a result of the activities engage during the period. The daily plan involves

defining the objectives, selecting and arranging the subject matter and determining the

method of procedure. It indicates the aims to be realised by teaching a lesson, the methods to

be employed and the activities to be undertaken.

Preparation of routine for early childhood education is important for the teacher to

frame all the contents of the curriculum properly. An example of weekly routine of early

childhood education is given above under the head of weekly plan. It is worth mentioning

here that activities may be planned separately for the age group 3-4 years and 4-5 or 6 years.

Planning of ECE Curriculum

Video link :

https://youtu.be/MbhPjc2vR1Q

Scan with QR Code

3.4 Transaction of ECCE Curriculum of Assam

Early childhood education is very important area of education. In our state Assam too,

there are lots of Anganwadi centres, play group and pre-primary schools. Appropriate

planning and transaction of the curriculum can improve the scene of ECE in Assam.

Following discussion can benefit the early childhood teachers and workers to transact of

Early Childhood Care Curriculum in Assam in a meaningful way-

3.4.1 Details of the themes (Broad theme & Sub themes):

The curriculum must address the following interrelated broad and sub themes of

holistic development through an integrated and play based approach which focuses on

development of life skills.

Physical and Motor Development: Gross motor skills; coordination of fine muscles

with dexterity ; eye hand coordination; sense of balance, physical co-ordination, and

awareness of space and direction; nutrition, health status and practices.

Language Development: Listening and comprehension; oral skills/speaking and

communicating; vocabulary development; pre- literacy/emergent literacy skills like

47 | P a g e

phonological awareness; print awareness and concepts; letter- sound correspondence;

recognition of letters; building words and sentences and early writing. Introduction to

language of school transaction.

Cognitive Development: Development of various concepts including pre number and

number concepts and operations (knowledge and skills related to comparing,

classification, seriation, conservation of space and quantity, one to one

correspondence; counting); spatial sense; patterns and estimations in measurement;

data handling; skills related to sequential thinking, critical thinking, observing,

reasoning and problem solving; and knowledge about concepts and physical, social

and biological environment.

Socio-Personal and Emotional Development: Development of self-concept; self-

control; life skills/ self-help skills; habit formation; initiative and curiosity;

engagement and persistence; cooperation; compassion; social relationships; group

interaction; pro- social behaviour; expressing feelings, accepting others feelings.

Sensorial Development: Development of the five senses through visual, auditory and

kinaesthetic experiences.

Development of Creative and Aesthetic Appreciation: Exploring different art

forms, develop dispositions, expression and appreciation for artistic, dance/ drama

and musical activities.

3.4.2 Management of Time and Activities in the Curriculum:

The attention span of young children is 15-20 minutes; therefore the duration of

activities should be 20 minutes, with additional time allotted for winding up and initiation of

the next activity. However, the programme should allow space and flexibility for need based

variations. The duration of the pre-school programmes should be 3 to 4 hours. The

programme should provide for some rest period during the day and if it is of longer duration,

as a full day programme, then a nap time is to be ensured.

Regarding management of activities in the curriculum, following principle are very

important:

The activities should be age and developmentally appropriate.

Activities fostering all domains of development should be appropriately planned.

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There should be a balance between structured and unstructured; active and quiet;

outdoor and indoor; self-directed and adult initiated learning opportunities and

individual, small group and large group activities.

The experiences should progress from simple to complex.

Learning opportunities should be interconnected, linking learning experiences across

developmental domains in a meaningful context, reflecting the real life context of the

children.

The language used should be the mother tongue of the child. Efforts should be made

to extend their language sensitively and introduce the school language gradually to

facilitate school readiness.

The programme should provide opportunities for exploration and experiential

learning, promoting active engagement with people and objects in the environment.

All the activities of ECCE curriculum is divided into three parts. Such as: Activities

for children under 3 years, activities for children of 3-4 years and activities for children of 4-6

years. These activities are discussed below:

(i) For Children under 3 years:

Focus on health, nutrition and early psycho social stimulation through free play and a

lot of adult child interaction (infant games, traditional songs & syllables, access to

variety of play materials, individualized adult attention and interaction, opportunities

to explore, early introduction to stories, infant books, drawings etc.) in safe, spacious

and clean environment.

(ii) For Children between 3 to 4 years:

Planned play based programme for all round development with more of free play.

Continuous opportunities, more free but some guided, for adult –child, child to child

interaction and interaction with play materials and environment through a variety of

individual, small group and large group activities.

Opportunities to listen to stories, learn rhymes, create, indulge in imaginative play,

ask questions, do simple problem solving, experiment to promote active and

interactive learning and generally have a ‘feel good’ experience for a positive self-

image.

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(iii) For Children between 4 to 6 years

Reading Readiness: e.g. picture –sound matching, shapes, phonetics; increasing

vocabulary; verbal expression, developing bond with and interest in reading through

picture books, storytelling, charts etc.

Writing Readiness: e.g. eye hand coordination, interest in writing, left to right

directionality.

Math: developing skills in classification, seriation, pattern making, reasoning,

problem solving, forming concepts: pre number and number concepts and space

concepts and vocabulary, environment concepts.

Motor development: fine motor development through activities such as beading,

pegboards and puzzles and large muscle development through running, jumping,

balancing activities etc.

Creativity and aesthetic appreciation: Creative drama, cultural activities, field trips

etc. The programme should be relevant to individual and societal needs. The age

demarcations are indicative and the activities have to be planned according to the

developmental level of the children.

Transaction of ECE Curriculum

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https://youtu.be/mjBC7M7Yjrc

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3.4.3 Method of transacting one day activities taking one particular

theme:

The curriculum adopts a play and activity based approach. Children are visualized as

active beings who construct their own knowledge and the process of teaching –learning is one

of co-construction of knowledge, with adults as facilitators. Various approaches are practiced

for transacting the Early Childhood Education programme. Some commonly adopted

approaches are: Montessori Method, Regio Emilia, Progressive Method, Thematic Approach

etc.

In this module, one example is given regarding method of transacting one day

activities taking one particular theme. The theme selected for this example is ‘water’. The

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theme ‘water’ helps children to learn that water is very important and is basic for us to stay

alive. Although water is one of the natural resources most familiar to young children, they

may have never tried to explore it. To begin with, during the circle time a story could be told

about a child who went swimming. Gradually the story will lead into a discussion for some

other uses human beings have for water. Main objectives of this particular theme are:

To provide opportunities for young children to learn

Water is used by humans for many purposes. Water is useful for cleaning, drinking,

helping plants to grow.

We get water from different sources.

Water has three forms.

Water is precious and we should not waste it. Importance of water in daily life.

We also have fun with water.

Water is colourless, tasteless, and odourless and has weight.

We all should use it wisely.

Different activities of this theme for one day are mentioned below:

(i) Language and Literary Experiences (Circle Time)

Finger plays will be performed with the help of thunder finger play and in soapy water

activity.

(ii) Visits

To provide knowledge about the use of water, following places should be visited: Fire

station, Garden/park, Service station (Car/Scooter wash), Water fountain, swimming pool (if

any), a nearby lake or river etc.

(iii) Social and Emotional Development

Following activities to be performed for socio-emotional development of children

with the help of particular theme:

Encourage the children to wash their hands before and after every meal

Discuss the importance of using water wisely and closing the taps after use.

Take the children to the school garden in small groups and help them water the

plants.

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Involve older children to make posters on ‘Save Water’.

(i) Dramatic Play (Small Group Activity)

To encourage children to think about the uses of water, ask them to dramatize the

different uses. Each child can act out one use and the others can guess the use.

For example, one child can mime the act of drinking water; another can mime the

act of bathing, and so on.

Provide small umbrella, rain-coats; gumboots (child size) etc., and let children do

pretend play.

Let children wash doll’s clothes and hang some to dry in the sunshine and some

in a shady place. Let them compare drying times.

Indoor water play: Provide two-three small tubs of water inside the dry pool or

inside a classroom. Spread a plastic sheet below it. Provide small plastic bottles,

plastic funnels, write numbers such as 1, 2, 3, 4 as levels and attach these to

bottles. Ask children to fill water up to the marked number.

(ii) Experiences

Water colour painting: Mixing different paints with a dropper by using water and

then painting with water colour.

Clay modelling (Potter’s clay).

Coloured drops on a drawing: Draw a water drop on a paper. Provide eye dropper

and coloured water to a small group of children. Let children use the eye dropper

to drop coloured water on the picture.

Eye dropper art: Add different food colour to three cups. Add little water to these.

Provide eye droppers in a small group and give white A4 size sheets of paper to

children. Let children use the eye dropper to drop the coloured water into a paper.

Painting with water: Let children use big easel brushes and paint with water and

watch how the water evaporates.

Let children colour the picture of an umbrella.

Paper folding of a boat

(iii) Cognitive Experiences (Demonstrate all experiments in a small group of children)

Put detergent or provide bubble mix to a tub of water for sensory experiences.

Take out all the washable toys and take them outside.

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Provide kitchen utensils or plastic toys such as funnels, measuring cups, sponges,

squeeze bottles etc., to play with water.

Add sugar, salt, lemon any squash or powdered drink to drinking water. Let

children taste them.

Let children wash doll clothes with water. .

Provide powdered drink or any squash. Let children mix, stir water into this mix.

Help them serve in small glasses.

Bring ice-cubes in the classroom and let children observe these. Talk how ice

cubes are formed. Then carefully put the ice-cubes in a frying pan on a low heat.

Take two-three clear glasses of water. Ask children to observe. Talk about the

colour of water (colourless). Then add drops of liquid food colour (red, yellow,

green and blue) to each of the glass. Ask children to name the coloured water (do

one colour at a time).

Take a container of slightly muddy water. Let it stand for a while. After sometime

sedimentation will take place. Show the children the impurities settled at the

bottom of the container. Talk to the children about clean and polluted water.

Ask a child to fill the bucket with water using a mug. Ask “How many mugs does

it take to fill one bucket?” For older children, provide a set of measuring cups and

three different sized plastic bottles. Ask how many cups it takes to fill a bottle and

so on.

Provide variety of sponges for sensory experiences. Let children soak sponges in

water and then squeeze them into another empty tub. Ask them which ones hold

the most water?

Collect a few things such as sponge, a big piece of cloth, a container full of dry

sand, a small empty bucket etc. Let the children handle each object before and

after adding water to it and compare their weights.

Collect lots of objects (leaves, pebbles, paper clips, cork, coins, sponges, beads,

twigs, marbles, wooden pieces etc). Provide a small tub of water and encourage

children to explore and discover what kind of objects float and what kind of

objects sink in water. Let them experiment with different materials with sinking

and floating.

Add different food colour to water and pour in the different plastic ice trays and

place these in the freezer (do all these in front of children). After one hour take

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out and put coloured ice-cubes in different clear glasses. Pour plain water in

glasses.

Pour water in a ice tray and place it in a freezer. Let children observe and inspect

after every twenty minutes to observe the ice. Let children observe how it is

changing. Finally, when it is frozen, take the ice out and place it in front of

children and let them see how it melts.

Give an empty bucket to a child. Ask children what happen to the bucket when

we fill it with water. Let few children pour water into the bucket till it becomes

too difficult to hold. Ask them what happened? The weight of the water can be

easily understood.

(iv) Music And Movement (Whole Group Activities)

Different regional song related to water activity should be performed by teacher

among the children.

(v) Story-Telling Time

Tell stories on “Water”. Divide older children into groups and ask them to create

a story on water.

Collect theme related story books (refer to the list).

(vi) Concluding Theme

Ask children:

Did you like playing in water?

How do you use water at home?

Where do we get water from?

What will happen if we waste water?

What will happen if there is no water?

[Source of this activity: Soni, Romila (2015). Theme Based Early Childhood Care And

Education Programme: A Resource Book. New Delhi: National Council of Educational

Research and Training]

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Method of transacting of ECE Curriculum

Video link :

https://youtu.be/JoWcCQ1AMq0

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3.5 Preparation of Activity Book

An activity book is a type of book, generally aimed at children, which contains

interactive content such as games, puzzles, quizzes, pictures to colour and other elements

which involve writing or drawing in the book itself. The book may, or may not, have a loose

narrative or contain other non-interactive elements structured around the interactive elements.

Activity books may be made for entertainment, education or a mixture of both. Specific types

of activity books include colouring books and puzzle books. A book is normally referred to as

an activity book if it combines a variety of interactive elements and does not fall neatly into

one of these more specific categories.

Following principles should be kept in mind while planning the activity book for the

early childhood care and education:

Activities should be planned to reinforce spiral and graded learning while catering to

all domains and skills.

Contextually relevant pictures, letters and words may be added during adaptation.

Incorporating themes in every activity sheet is not necessary.

The teacher of preschool education should be given orientation during training on the

content of the activity book and how it can be used in the classroom to foster

children's learning and development needs, not as a substitute for but as a supplement

to other interactive group and individual activities.

The assessment cards should be linked with the activity book so that teacher can

observe some related indicators and use the child's output for assessment, in addition

to other forms of assessment.

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3.5.1 Overview of Activities linkage with the Themes of ECCE Curriculum

Activities linkage with the broad and sub themes in the activity book are varied

according to the age group f the children. Activities are mainly divided into three sub heads

such as:

(i) Activities for children (3-4 years)

Collage work

Colouring

Colouring

Complete the picture

Concept of different colour

Concept of distance

Concept of length

Concept of numbers

Concept of shape (Circle,

Triangle, rectangle)

Concept of size

Concept of space

Concept of thick and thin

Free drawing

Functional association

Problem solving (Maze)

Sense of taste

Shape object matching

Similar colour matching

Similar object matching

Similar shape matching

Thumb printing

Trace and colour

Tracing the dots

(ii) Activities for children (4-5 years)

Following activities should be included in the activity book for 4-5 years age group in

addition to the activities mentioned above with increased level of difficulty:

Classification-flying and non-flying

Classification-Vegetables and fruits

Colour and object matching

Colour matching

Concept of position

Concept of weight

Concept of width

Count and draw

Count and match

Count and write

Missing number

Number Comparison

Number matching

Number matching

Pattern completion

Picture sound matching

Sequence of events

Shape

Spot the difference

(iii) Activities for children (5-6 years)

Following activities should be included in the activity book for 5-6 years age group in

addition to both the group of activities mentioned above with increased level of difficulty for

particular age group:

Addition

Colour picture and trace letter

Complete the picture

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Concept of habitat

Count and trace

Domestic and wild animals

Free writing

Letter shape identification

Number concept

Number value

Pattern completion

Picture letter matching

Picture word matching

Spot the difference and complete the picture

Understanding of part and whole

3.5.2 Use of Activity Book

Following points are very important regarding use of activity book for the teachers of

early childhood education.

Activity book should not be seen as a replacement of classroom processes, but only as

a means to reinforce concepts. Children learn concepts and vocabulary through a

process of first engaging with the environment, with objects, with other persons and

with materials through concrete activities and experiences. Then only can they

transfer that learning to the next level by engaging with symbolic representation of

these objects/experiences through pictures and symbols, for which activity books are

helpful.

Teachers should be flexible and conduct a given activity according to the child's needs

and pace of learning.

Young children should not be forced to complete the worksheet neatly or within a

stipulated time. Allow them to do their best in their own preferred way, since each

child has different interests and abilities.

It is advised not to use activity books every day. Two worksheets per week are

enough to engage young children.

Talk about the worksheet first and give clear instructions to children.

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Please show the activity books to parents which will help them gain an understanding

of an age appropriate program as well as insights on their child's progress.

Do not grade children or allocate marks since the child should not feel that they are

being tested while working on the activity book.

Activity Book

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https://youtu.be/oEIEZtiIz5o

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3.6 Let us Sum Up

Good planning is the key to making children’s learning effective, exciting, varied and

progressive.

Planning of ECCE curriculum is divided into four heads. Such as: yearly plan,

monthly plan, weekly plan and daily plan.

The full years plan should be split into term/quarterly and then monthly plans,

monthly plan is then required into reduced into weekly and then into daily plans.

The attention span of young children is 15-20 minutes; therefore the duration of

activities should be 20 minutes, with additional time allotted for winding up and

initiation of the next activity.

All the activities of ECCE curriculum is divided into three parts. Such as: Activities

for children under 3 years, activities for children of 3-4 years and activities for

children of 4-6 years.

Various approaches are practiced for transacting the Early Childhood Education

programme. Some commonly adopted approaches are: Montessori Method, Regio

Emilia, Progressive Method, Thematic Approach etc.

An activity book is a type of book, generally aimed at children, which contains

interactive content such as games, puzzles, quizzes, pictures to colour and other

elements which involve writing or drawing in the book itself.

Activity book should not be seen as a replacement of classroom processes, but only as

a means to reinforce concepts.

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3.7 Further Reading

Akshara Foundation (2016). Pre-School Teacher Trainer’s Handbook.

Kaul, V. (2010). Early Childhood Education Programme. New Delhi: National

Council of Educational Research and Training. New Delhi.

Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India (2017). Activity

Book for Children (3-4 Years). New Delhi.

Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India (2017). Activity

Book for Children (4-5 Years). New Delhi.

Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India (2017). Activity

Book for Children (5-6 Years). New Delhi.

Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India (2017). ECCE

Training Module for Anganwadi Workers. New Delhi.

Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. Draft National

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy. New Delhi.

National Council of Educational Research and Training (2019). The Preschool

Curriculum. New Delhi.

Soni, R, Kapoor R, Vashishtha, K. K. (2008). Early Childhood Education. An

Introduction. New Delhi: National Council for Educational Research and Training.

Soni, Romila (2015). Theme Based Early Childhood Care And Education

Programme: A Resource Book. New Delhi: National Council of Educational

Research and Training.

Swaminathan, M. and Daniel, P. (2004). Play Activities for Child Development: A

Guide to Preschool Teachers. New Delhi: National Book Trust.

OER Reading Links:-

1. https://ijccep.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40723-016-0024-4 (Kindergarten

Curriculum framework)

2. https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/music-and-the-child/chapter/chapter-6/ (creative

activity)

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Module IV :

PLAY

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Module Structure

4.1 Learning Objectives

4.2 Introduction

4.3 Concept of Play

4.3.1 Definition of Play

4.4 Significance of Play for Children.

4.4.1 The Importance of Play in Preschool

4.5 Characteristics of Play.

4.6 Types of Play

4.7 Let us sum up

4.8 Further Reading

4.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES:-

After going through this module, learners will be able to,

- define the concept of Play.

- explain the significance of play for children.

- explain the characteristics of play.

- identify the types of play.

4.2: INTRODUCTION:

Dear learners, it is known to us that play is a universal phenomenon and a right of

childhood and children are playful in nature. Play comes naturally to children as they

begin to explore their surroundings. Young Children learn new things just by playing. The

role of play in early childhood education should not go unnoticed, instead should be included

in early childhood education (ECE) curriculum. Play in preschool presents young learners

with a means to understand the world works around them. Therefore, professional early

childhood teachers who are aware of and comprehend the importance of play in the life of

children, are better prepared to use play as a context for instruction at this stage of education.

They also understand the importance of play in social, emotional, cognitive, physical, and

motor domains of development. Hence, it is extremely important that early childhood

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educators’ should have a clear understanding of play offer appropriate support to children.

This module discusses the concept, definition, characteristics and types of play. It goes on to

examine the importance of play and the significance of play in children’s development.

4.3: CONCEPT OF PLAY:

Play is the lens through which children experience their world and the world of others. The

concept of play seems very simple. Play is any activity undertaken with a playful frame of

mind. Play has been defined as any activity freely chosen, naturally driven, and personally

directed. It consists of those activities performed for self-amusement that have behavioural,

social, and psychomotor rewards. It is child-directed, and the rewards come from within the

individual child; it is enjoyable and spontaneous. Thus, play consists of an amusing, pretend

or imaginary activity alone or with other. It can be said as a range of intrinsically motivated

activities done for recreational pleasure as well as enjoyment.

Play is not just a pass time activity. When it comes to how our kid plays, it turns out that it’s

not all just fun and games. Play is the work of children. Valentine said play is a kind of

amusement in the work. In young children play is frequently associated with the all-round

development of children. Even some forms of play are rehearsals or trials for later life

events. Play is explicitly recognized in Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the

Child, (adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, November 29,1989), which

declares:

Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and

recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in

cultural life and the arts.

Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural

and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate equal opportunities

for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activities.

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4.3.1 DEFINITION OF PLAY:

Play is an important element of a child’s life. It helps children achieve mastery in certain

skills, and they learn to have control over their environment. Play contributes to the

development of children. Play is generally associated with children. But it occurs at any life

stage and including other higher functioning animals as well. Play, according to the famous

psychologist McDougall is a normal innate tendency, similar to suggestion and imitation.

Though the definition of play varies from psychologist to psychologist, most of them believe

that it is an innate tendency. From the following definitions we will understand it better-

Dewey defines play as “Activities that necessarily performed for the sake of any result

beyond themselves.”

According to Froebel, “Play is the purest, most spiritual activity of man at this stage

(childhood). It gives therefore joy, freedom, contentment, inner rest and peace with the

world.”

Nunn holds that, “Play is a profound manifestation of creative activities.”

Ross regards play as. “Joyful, spontaneous, creative activity, in which man finds his fullest

expression.”

Rogers and Sawyers opined, “Play is the foundation of children’s healthy development.”

Crow and Crow: “Play can be defined as the activity in which a person engages when he is

free to do what he wants.”

So, it can be concluded that play is a volitional, autonomous, instinctive and creative

activity, or an activity that manifests these activities and which gives amusement and pleasure

to the individual. The term “Play Way” was first used by Caldwell Cook to describe his

method of teaching English.

Concept of Play

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64 | P a g e

4.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF PLAY FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN:

Play is very significant for a child during the early childhood years. Play is one of the media

through which the child can easily give expression to his general and common tendencies.

Play with imagination and fantasy is the child's natural medium of self-expression and one

that gives cues about the child's conscious and unconscious states. Play is a necessary

element of healthy development for children of all ages. Through play, children build

important knowledge that encompasses many developmental domains. Play influences all

areas of development; it offers children the opportunity to learn about the self, others, and the

physical environment. It encourages aspects of social, emotional, cognitive, and physical

development that cannot be achieved any other way. Play reinforces the child's growth and

development. Some of the more common functions of play are to facilitate physical,

emotional, cognitive, social, and development.

The significance of play for the children can be summarized below-

1) Physical Development: Play helps in the bodily development of the child. Exercise

helps to promote physically fit and healthy children. They also build strong muscles,

improve bone-density and increase cardio-vascular function. Encouraging active play can

have positive far-reaching health effects. Pre-school physical education programme

should also be designed to both fitness and child development. Also physical education

programme for the aged between 3-5 years should focus on providing opportunities for

children to master motor skills and learn about physical movement.

2) Mental Development: The play is important in mental development. Children gain

knowledge through their play. They exercise their abilities to think, remember, and solve

problems. Different games provide opportunities for the exercise of different mental

powers and capabilities present in the child. Play develops abstract thinking. This

abstract thinking is the foundation for more advanced learning and problem solving.

Children increase their problem-solving abilities through games and puzzles. Pay can

stimulate several types of learning. Language is strengthened as the children model

others and organize their thoughts to communicate. Children playing house create

elaborate narratives concerning their roles and the nature of daily living. Children also

increase their understanding of size, shape, and texture through play.

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3) Emotional Development: Play is an important medium of emotional development. Many

suppressed emotions can be revealed with the help of play. In this process child generally

learns to express, control and sublimate or transform his emotions. Regular play can

reduce anxiety, stress and irritability for children while boosting joy and self-esteem. It

improves emotional flexibility, resilience and provides an increased ability to deal with

change. Through play, children can confront life’s challenges in a way that they can

understand and process. It also helps to get rid of destructive emotions like feeling of

irritability, the tendency to quarrel, fear, anxiety, and tensions and so on. Emotional

stability can be attained through games and sports.

4) Social Development: Play is important in social development and socialization of the

child. It helps in the development of social qualities such as discipline, cooperation,

sympathy, tolerance, law abidingness and leadership etc. In the group or collective games,

the child is motivated by the interest of the entire group rather than any individual motive.

Group play helps children to learn how to interact with peers and they are introduced to

social roles and cultural norms. They develop the skills necessary to play cooperatively

within group structures. It also gives them an opportunity to learn about self-control, test

relationships and understand acceptable group behaviour.

5) Moral Development: When children engage in play with their peers and families, they

begin to learn some behaviors are acceptable while others are unacceptable. Group play

helps the child appreciate teamwork and share and respect others’ feelings. Thus the child

learns to how to be kind and charitable to others.

4.4.1 THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY IN PRESCHOOL:

The play way approach aims at introducing the elements of freedom, interest, realism and

spontaneity in to the entire school work. Play shows us how well children are developing

and is also a means for further development-

Play in preschool promotes the development of strong language and vocabulary

skills. In the earliest years, children become familiar with words by playing with books

or other materials that have letters on them. With practice and participation, children

begin to understand how language and vocabulary can facilitate communication,

express feelings, and improve dialogues within a group.

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Imagination and creativity can also be strengthened through organized play in

preschool. Arts, crafts, and dramatic play sessions are ways to encourage and

support open-ended creative expression. By supplying the necessary tools and

making suggestions for opportunities to expand their imaginations, young learners

are encouraged to develop a sense of independence, self-confidence, and feelings

of accomplishment. During play, children often mimic adults and create make-believe

games. When a child does this, they’re stretching their imagination.

In addition, in pre-school children are taught motor skills through play. Preschool

play builds both gross and fine motor skills. Play, movement and physical activities

are extremely important in the development of children. Play gives kids the opportunity

to sharpen reflexes, work on movement control, improve gross motor skills and develop

greater balance. Playing inside or outside children strengthen their muscles.

Problem solving skills and mathematical concepts are also enriched through

play activities in preschool. Building block work puzzles, and games can

introduce a variety of challenges that require the need for problem solving. It can

create situations that foster early lessons in the subject of math.

Also, play is children’s means of self-expression, which is important for their emotional

development. Children learn how to express their feelings; they use play to relax tension

and anxiety, release aggression, and express conflict.

Activities such as arts and crafts, building and block discovery, and dramatic

performances are a few play ideas that will benefit in progressing the minds and

muscles of toddlers.

Thus we can conclude that Play in preschool can build social, emotional, and

language development. Through play preschoolers discover and strengthen their

proficiency in areas such as language and vocabulary, imagination and creativity,

gross and fine motor skills, as well as, problem solving and mathematical concepts.

Therefore, in a preschool program incorporating play within the curriculum is

essential for children to grow and develop. Recognition of importance of play in an

educational will give early learners the most opportunities to learn. It will also

succeed in creating a place where cooperative social interactions and individual

educational developments are introduced, practiced, and learned. Play in early

childhood education should not be understated, as it needs to be part of ECE curriculum

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4.5 CHARACTERISTICS OF PLAY:

Any attempt to assess plays needs to find a balance between preserving the

spontaneous characteristics of this behavior and the need to impose some structure for the

purpose of facilitating interpretation. Play is not neatly defined in terms of any single

characteristic; instead, it involves a constellation of characteristics, which have to do with the

motives or mental framework underlying the observed behavior. Some characteristics most

frequently associated with play are mentioned below -

1. Play is Active: During play time, children use their bodies and minds by interacting

with the environment, materials and other people.

2. Play is Communicative: Play presents a natural opportunity for children to share

information and knowledge. Children can communicate verbally, using words or their

bodies, postures and other non-verbal cues and these messages can be simple or more

complicated.

3. Play is Enjoyable: Play is fun. When children play, they enjoy themselves and they

can often find excitement and humor in or through their play. If they are not having

fun, it probably is not play. Instead of playing to win children should be playing to

play and have fun.

4. Play is Involved: We all know that play is a child’s work. Just like adults need to

concentrate while working, children should concentrate during their play also.

Children might become very involved while playing as they are actively thinking

about what they are doing.

5. Play is Meaningful: Play provides opportunities for children to make sense of their

world. Through play, children process the things they have seen and heard, what they

know and what they don’t yet know. These experiences help children build upon their

current knowledge as well as grow their knowledge, understanding and skills.

6. Play is Social and Interactive: Some of the time, play presents a unique and

formative opportunity for children to engage in social interaction and also build

relationship with other children and adults.

7. Play is Therapeutic: When play is fun, engaging and meaningful, it can be very

therapeutic for children. Play can be a natural way for children to relieve stress and

work through different emotions and experiences.

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8. Play is Age specific: As the child progress from infancy towards adulthood, his

games gain in complexity and from haphazard movements becomes organized games.

As the child grows older, he embraces the group and collective games along with the

individual games he was accustomed to.

Characteristics of Play

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4.6 TYPES OF PLAY:

More and more parents are conscious of the downside of a generation that’s allowed too little

time to play. Play is very significant for a child during the early childhood years. Therefore,

knowledge of the development of different types of play gives educators and parents a

foundation for proper teaching strategies. Knowledge of the development of different types of

play gives educators and parents a foundation for proper teaching strategies. Different

thinkers categorized play into different type, According to sociologist Mildred Parten Newhall

there are six distinctive types of play. Each one of these play offers an opportunity for your child

to learn valuable lessons about herself and the world. These are applicable for children ages 2

to 5. These are as below-

1. Unoccupied play.

2. Independent or solitary play.

3. On – looker play.

4. Parallel play.

5. Associative play.

6. Co-operative play.

1. UNOCCUPIED PLAY: Unoccupied play refers to those activities when a child is

not actually playing at all. He may be engaged in some random moments with no

objective. Despite appearances, this definitely is play and sets the stage for future play

exploration.

For example when a zero to two-year-old was sitting in a corner and happily

playing with her feet, it might not seem like she’s doing something. But in this situation

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the kid is actually busy taking in the world around and observing. Unoccupied play is an

important step that will set her up for future (and more active) playtime.

2. INDEPENDENT OR SOLITARY PLAY: Independent or solitary play is just what

it sounds like – when one child plays alone. This type of play varies greatly depending

on the child, but might be when the little one sits quietly with a book or plays with his

favorite stuffed animal. This type of play is important, because it teaches a child how

to keep himself entertained, eventually self – sufficient, any child can play

independently, but such type of play is commonly seen in the age group of2 or 3. At

this stage they are still pretty self centered and lack good communication skills.

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3. ONLOOKER PLAY: When a child simply observes other children playing and does

not take part in the action, is called onlooker play. It is common for younger children

who are working on their developing vocabulary. For example if Priya watches other

kids run up the slide but doesn’t join in the fun, she just entered the onlooker play stage,

which often occurs simultaneously to solitary play and is actually a vital first step toward

group participation. Onlooker play typically occurs around ages two and a half to three

and a half.

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4. PARALLEL PLAY: It is a form of play in which children play adjacent to each

other but do not try to influence one another’s behaviour. Children usually play alone

during parallel play but are interested in what other children are doing. This typically

occurs between ages two and a half and three and a half. When a child is in this phase

when he and his partner play with the same toys beside each other but not with each

other. This doesn’t mean they are frenemies. This play helps child to to take turns, pay

attention to others and mimic behavior that seems useful or fun.

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5. ASSOCIATIVE PLAY: It is one of the categories used to describe the development

of social play by preschoolers. This stage looks similar to parallel play but is

characterized by child’s interaction with others without coordination (and typically

occurs between ages three and four). It is the first stage where social interaction is

required in children’s play as they engage in a mutual activity through not working

toward a common goal.

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6. CO OPERATIVE PLAY: Cooperative play is where all the stages come together

and children truly start playing together (typically around the time they start school at

age four or five). Co operative play uses all of the social skills that the child has been

working on and puts them into action. Whether they are building a puzzle together,

playing a board game, or enjoying an outdoor group game. Such type of play sets the

stage for future interactions as the child matures into an adult.

This is when team sports or group performances become a lot more fun (for kids

playing and for parents watching). At this phase they are ready to apply the skills they

have learned like socializing, communicating, problem solving and interacting to other

parts of their life and become fully functioning mini adults

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Other Types of Play:

Besides the above types, these are other types of play that also contribute to a child’s

maturity. These types of play usually develop as a child begins to play and include-

Dramatic/ Fantasy Play: Through this type of play, child’s imagination gets a workout.

For example, play dress up, act like a doctor, police etc. Through role play, kids are also

able to learn about functioning in the greater community.

Physical Play: Gross and fine motor skills really come into play here, whether the child

is throwing a ball or riding a bike. Physical play encourages kids to be active.

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Constructive Play: it includes building with blocks, making road for toy cars,

constructing a fort out of couch pillows, etc. Construction play is helpful for teaching the

child about manipulation building fitting things together. Cognitive skills are used to

figure out how to make something work best.

Symbolic Play: This type of play can be singing, jokes, rhymes, drawing, coloring, etc. It

is helpful for children to develop skills in expressing themselves and exploring their

experiences, ideas as well as emotions.

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Types of Play

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4.7: LET US SUM UP

In this module, we have discussed in details about concept of play, its significance,

characteristics and types. Thus it can be summarized as-

Play is the lens through which children experience their world and the world of

others. The concept of play seems very simple. Play is any activity undertaken with a

playful frame of mind

Play is explicitly recognized in Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the

Child, (adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, November 29,1989)

According to Froebel, “Play is the purest, most spiritual activity of man at this stage

(childhood). It gives therefore joy, freedom, contentment, inner rest and peace with

the world.”

Play is very significant for a child during the early childhood years. Play is one of the

media through which the child can easily give expression to his general and common

tendencies.

Play is very important for the physical, mental, emotional as well as social

development of the child.

The play way approach aims at introducing the elements of freedom, interest, realism

and spontaneity in to the entire school work

Through play preschoolers discover and strengthen their proficiency in areas

such as language and vocabulary, imagination and creativity, gross and fine

motor skills, as well as, problem solving and mathematical concepts

The characteristic of play are-it is active, it is communicative, it is enjoyable etc.

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According to sociologist Mildred Parten Newhall, there are six distinctive types of play.

These are-Unoccupied play, Independent or solitary play, on – looker play, Parallel

play, Associative play and Co-operative play.

4.8 Further Reading

1. NCERT, (2006) Early Childhood Education (Position Paper, National Focus

Group), New Delhi.

2. Upadhyay, G.C. et al. 2000. Pathyakram Bojh: Purva Prathamic evam Prathamic

estar per ek Margdarshi Adhyayan, Primary Shikshak. No. 3(26). NCERT, New

Delhi.

3. Vygotsky, L.S. (1985) Play and Its Role in the Mental Development of the Child.

In J. Bruner, A. Jolly, and K. Sylva (Eds.). Play: It’s Role in Development and

Evolution. Basic Books, New York. pp 597 – 608

OER Reading Links:

1. http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Definitions_of_Play (Concept of Play) 2. https://www.mcser.org/journal/index.php/jesr/article/view/6575/6300 (Play and Learning

in ECE)

3. https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Early_Childhood_Education/Book%3A_Introduct

ion_to_Curriculum_for_Early_Childhood_Education_(Paris_Beeve_and_Springer)/02%3A_Th

e_Importance_of_Play_and_Intentional_Teaching/2.03%3A_Types_of_Play (Types of Play)